All's Fair
by kaligoddess
Summary: While he understood that he really didn't have any right to mess with her love life while he was unable to make a commitment himself, that didn't mean he had to make it easy for the new guy moving in on her. Movieverse


A/N: So... I don't know where I'm going with this. I had originally envisioned it as a longer, humorous one-shot basically written as an excuse to finally make me finish setting up my Joe fanfic archive (made-by-kali /joe - fill in the blanks or check mah profile) But then I realized that I was actually unintentionally setting up larger plot points and this got slapped as the prologue with Chapter One to follow real soon. So this could end up at a few chapters or end up something bigger.

I am writing mostly in the live-action continuity, although I pull from the movie-related novels and from the comics when the movies don't cover something.

* * *

Snake Eyes was fuming, not that anyone could tell.

For all the rest of the Joes knew he was calmly reflecting on the universe as he carefully ran through the kata. Another member of the clan could have seen that this was one of the most basic routines, so ingrained in his being that he could perform it on muscle memory alone, but to the casual observer he just looked busy and unapproachable. The last thing he felt like being was social when the object of his ire, and the one most likely to bother him, was having the crap beaten out of him on the next mat.

"That was horrible," Scarlett said, exasperation leaking into her voice.

"Hey, that time it took you a good ten seconds to throw me." Ripcord struggled back to his feet. "It only took you three when we started."

Five second later the newest Joe hit the ground with a satisfying thud and Snake Eyes smirked beneath the mask. While he wasn't a violent person by nature despite his vocation, he had to admit that watching the redhead throw around Ripcord like a sack of potatoes was oddly satisfying.

"Seriously, are you really trying?" Scarlett asked.

"You'd better not be going easy on her just because she's a woman," Heavy Duty warned as he walked pass. "Last recruit that did that ended up in the medical ward for a week."

She'd also given Snake Eyes an earful when she figured out he wasn't using all his skill on her, too. Granted, she was a little more forgiving because he was trying not embarrass her in front of the squad of Greenshirts she had been training, but she had let it be known, in no uncertain terms, that she was to be treated exactly like on of the boys. To be honest, he was still careful around her not because of her gender, but she was the only one besides Duke who could even come close to taking him down.

"No, I'm legitimately getting my ass kicked," Ripcord grumbled good-naturedly as he got up for the umpteenth time.

That wasn't going to stop anytime soon, in the ninja's opinion. Especially not if he spent more time focusing on his instructor's assets instead of what she was actually doing. He knew the man had adequate hand-to-hand skills, he did test every potential recruit after all, but 'adequate' didn't get you very far if you couldn't keep your focus. Not that Scarlett in a skin-hugging tank top wasn't a tempting distraction.

Fortunately the one-sided beating was interrupted by the arrival of Duke, looking very distracted himself. "You okay?" Ripcord asked, suddenly serious. "You say something stupid to Anna?"

Duke attempted a weak smile at the joke. "No, it's the nanomites," he replied, setting down his travel duffel. "They're even harder to remove than the doctors originally thought."

"That sucks. She's still going to be stuck in that tin can?" Likely Ripcord knew the answer but Duke nodded anyway.

"That 'tin can' is the finest vessel in the Navy,"Shipwreck growled from where he was spotting Gung Ho's lifting. "Have a little respect."

"Can it, Wreck. You wouldn't like the FLAGG so much if you were being held on it."

Duke interrupted before the sailor could defend his lady's honor. "They offered to move her to a secure facility elsewhere, but she didn't want to be transferred."

"Is she afraid of the nanomites being reactivated?" Scarlett asked.

"A little, I guess. I just wish she were someplace a little bit closer. And on dry land," Duke picked his bag back up and headed off, likely to put his things away.

Scarlett watched his retreating back and grabbed her water bottle with a sigh. It felt like the whole mood of the room had sunk. "I think we're done for today."

"But I was just getting warmed up," Ripcord protested with a flirtatious smile that made Snake Eyes bristle slightly.

"Why don't you ask Snake Eyes to spar with you, then?" There was an unmistakable sparkle of mischief in her eyes when she said that and for a second Snake Eyes wondered if she were purposely putting the man in harm's way for staring at her all afternoon.

The ninja gracefully finished one kata and smoothly began a new one as her victim glanced his way. "No thanks, I like my limbs unbroken," Ripcord said.

With a smile no one else could see, Snake Eyes shifted his movement into a round-house kick that could have snapped someone's neck. The other man swallowed heavily.

"Stop scaring him," Scarlett chided him. She was more than adept at reading his body language and knew that move wasn't part of the flow of action. "And don't pretend like you didn't hear me," she added when he didn't acknowledge her.

"Snake's just messing with you. He hasn't accidentally killed anyone he's training in years," Shipwreck piped up. "Of course, it doesn't have to be an accident..."

"Yeah, yeah, big, scary ninja, I get it," Ripcord said, but still cringed a bit when Snake Eyes stopped to crack what sounded like all the joints in his torso. "I think I'll still pass though, I've got to keep my main man from going all angsty on me." He headed off down the same corridor as Duke.

"Don't think I don't know what you're up to," Scarlett said as soon as Ripcord was out of earshot. She poked an accusatory finger into Snake Eyes' chest. "Just because you haven't warmed up to him yet doesn't mean you get to terrorize him."

He just held up his hands in a placating gesture. Even if she had caught him in the act, at least she hadn't figured out his actual motives. While he understood that he really didn't have any right to mess with her love life while he was unable to make a commitment himself, that didn't mean he had to make it easy for the new guy moving in on her. Or that he had to like it.

He just had to get sneakier about it.


End file.
